Somewhere
by Eloquent-Whispers
Summary: Somewhere a streetlamp dwindled, providing a glow that penetrated only a portion of the looming clouds. The cadence of rainfall pattered the asphalt, which released a lingering odor acrid to vulnerable senses.


Somewhere a streetlamp dwindled, providing a glow that penetrated only a portion of the looming clouds. The cadence of rainfall pattered the asphalt, which released a lingering odor acrid to vulnerable senses.

A familiar whisper penetrated the silence wove through the terrain.

Several felines emerged from the shelter of scarce undergrowth, identical due to the impatient flicker of their tails. Narrowed pupils observed the ashen canvas that stretched to defend the heavens, smudged by the waves of nature's tears.

Only a single cat broke away from the stupor of its companions. His mottled earthen coat, streaked with brown and traces of tawny, was channeled with filth, and the feral glint of blue eyes ranging over his followers sharpened.

"You are nothing but soft-hearted rodents." He spat distastefully. "Could I not be granted more sorrowful heaps of bones as yourselves?"

A tom, its battle-scarred flanks fluttering with the struggle to breathe, strode forward and tentatively raised his head.

"You have challenged our authority yet again, Donovan." The opposing meow was hoarse with age, yet a spark of defiance weakly smoldered in his sharp orange eyes. "I may be on the borders of life, but our colony is whole. No cat granted you any more power than they would to a newborn kitten."

To further address his point, the elder's plumed gray tail indicated the wave of nods summoned throughout the ranks of cats. Donovan stiffened and unsheathed an inventory of claws.

"Watch your tongue, Relic, or you may find your entrails being devoured by vultures." Donovan countered. His grin revealed shards of yellowed fangs. "WindCatcher clearly approved of my decision and appointed me leader for a reason."

Relic swayed at the effort of standing, but he steadied enough to stalk closer to Donovan. The contrast in their heights would have sent a badger into hysterics. Although he triumphantly faced the broad-chested tom, an unmistakable shadow of weariness passed over his muzzle.

"WindCatcher cannot be considered for his decisions!" Relic exclaimed. "Hunger eats away at his senses each hour of the day. Takara can never leave his side, for he does not even have enough strength to properly chew her remedies, nonetheless be threatened by torture."

Struggling to ignore the rage contorting Donovan's bristling face, he apologetically turned to respond to the rest of the colony.

"My friends," he began, exhaustion weighing down his concern. "Our once renowned leader has failed us, and appointed one who will surely result in our deaths. We can only hope that the calls have been answered."

"They have been indeed."

The strange voice encouraged startled swoons among the ranks of cats, rendering their fear as pure terror. Even Donovan cut the flow of anger to his facial features and balanced on his nimble haunches, grasped by uncertainty. An involuntary rustle erupted from a bundle of wilted bracken. The oppressive gazes of felines detected minor shifts in movement amidst the concealing shadows, awaiting their demise while uttering final prayers.

At last, two figures hesitantly withdrew shaky paws from the shrubs. One of the newcomers was a sturdy and elderly tom, his coat airbrushed with pale charcoal hues similar to the expanse of the sky. Remarkable ice blue oculars were filmed with exhaustion, however they examined his companion sharply. Youth supplied possible energy to the smaller tom's paws, but currently they were twitching and trembling. His jet-black coated was sleek along the visible ridge of his spine, and nervous green eyes sketched a strained face. With an encouraging nudge to his apprentice, the gray tom approached Relic and respectively issued a curt nod.

"Greetings," The gray tom's knowledgeable tone could only identify his experience. "I am Thunder, the reincarnation of your distant canine enemies and also interpreter of dawn. Do not feel the need to unleash your strength." He sympathetically eyed the tapering tendons of cats bunched beneath their pelts. "Conserve what you must, for I fear the outcome of our conversation will require much energy."

Relic regained the ability to communicate and gave in to the temptation to draw back. "You have travelled long and far to answer our requests." He meowed gratefully with a courteous bow. "But our urgency was quite clear, was it not?"

"To me your meaning was a mystery." Thunder admitted after a brief heartbeat of silence. His paws churned the sodden soil. "But my apprentice Reaper deciphered it with ease."

All eyes flickered dully upon the defensive tom anxiously nudging a stubborn twig, his coat plastered to his thin frame. Thunder's imploring eyes rested upon him until he dejectedly settled beside his mentor. Ears twitching, Reaper took a shaky gulp of air before speaking.

"Although SpiritPack is often judgmental," Reaper said dryly. "I understand urgency when I see it."

"Urgent!" Donovan caterwauled menacingly, plowing toward the young tom with a lash of his serpentine tail. "We are not relying on petty fools to uplift this destruction!" He sharply prodded Reaper with an extended claw, and then whirled on his feet to glare at the colony.

"Have we all gone mad?" Hysteria began to creep along Donovan's tone. "Listening to the words of an inexperienced kitten? He is a traitor in disguise! Already they admitted to being slavering wolves, but I guess they sought us dumb enough to lead us to our graves!"

Reaper clearly winced at the raw intensity radiating from Thunder's pelt. The shaman had remained stonily silent, but drew back his shoulders and ground his jaws as he straightened. As if a brood of clouds had settled in his pupils, Thunder's eyes sightlessly stared into the distance.

"And now this deranged heap should be considered also?" Donovan spat. "I swear that these two shall not see the light of day under my reign."

But no cat had acknowledged their current leader's fury. Identical stares followed the spreading wisps of blood-red flames building a massive barricade between themselves and disguised wolves barreling closer and closer...


End file.
